


Afterlife

by eilu



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Afterlife, Death, Gen, Ghost month, Ghosts, Heaven, M/M, Memorials, No Angst, Spirits, Wakes & Funerals, life after death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-08-11 22:23:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20161075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eilu/pseuds/eilu
Summary: Julian and Garak in the Afterlife.





	Afterlife

**Author's Note:**

> We're currently commemorating Ghost Month. Traditional Chinese belief has it that during this month, the gates of the underworld are opened and spirits of the deceased are allowed to wander the Earth. Thoughts of death and the afterlife inspired this story.

It was a rather grand funeral, what with the crowd and the state honors. Though most of his friends had gone on before him, their children, and children's children had come. From different worlds they had traveled to Cardassia to honor the life and legacy of Doctor Julian Garak, (née Bashir, but no mention of his previous last name was made in any open records, as per his standing request.)

Dax had read a touching eulogy, recalling memories from two previous hosts. Siobhan O'Brien retold family stories from "great uncle" Julian's visits to Earth. There were others too, human, Ferengi, Klingon, Cardassian, Andorian, innumerable races. The doctor had touched many lives, and they all came to honor his memory.

The Federation had even wanted to send an official delegation, but his family, and the Cardassian government, had firmly refused. "You didn't want him when he was alive, no sense coming here and pretending you did now that he's gone." his great-granddaughter Kira, now the family matriarch, had replied. She had every bit the fire of her Bajoran namesake, and she refused to back down or compromise. In the end the Federation had instead sent a plaque commemorating his "service and valor during the Great Dominion War" and "various significant contributions to medicine and research." It sat in the shipping depot, unclaimed and unwanted.

"We loved him" the Castellan was now saying to the solemn crowd. "He touched all of us without judgement, without prejudice. He healed our land and our people. He became one of us, one with Cardassia. Though he rests now with his dear husband, we shall honor him forever, as we honor all great Cardassians." At that they all rose in thunderous applause, in celebration of a life well and fully lived. 

Over his fresh grave, side by side with his beloved Elim, plans were quickly being drawn up for a suitable memorial to the two of them.

\---

There was impenetrable darkness, a great nothing where not even time seemed to exist. And then from the infinite stillness around him, there bloomed a light. But not an ordinary light; a light that came from everywhere, and it was warm and cool and white and all colors at the same time. Julian blinked, and before him the light began to coalesce, like water flowing into itself.

He blinked again. Was he going mad? His last memories... the quiet days after coming home from the hospital, months in recuperation, his large family always around him— then nothing. Perhaps the oxygen to his brain was getting low? He tried to call out, to move, but found he couldn't. He realized he couldn't even feel anything. Not himself, not whatever it was that surrounded him. Everything simply was. 

In front of him the light shrank down into a pinprick, before opening again to reveal a familiar and long-missed form. _Now I know I am definitely going mad_, he thought. And yet, unable to restrain himself, he was finally able to croak out a soft "Elim?" 

The tailor smiled, a loving and gentle expression. He looked far more peaceful than he ever did before, a gentle radiance emanating from his presence. "Welcome, my dear, to the Other Side." he whispered into the doctor's ear as he folded him in a warm embrace.

"Elim" Julian breathed in wonder, tears welling in his eyes. "It's been too long. Is it really you?" If this was madness, he will not even try to stay sane.

"It may be hard for you to believe, since you buried me yourself— lovely ceremony by the way, with all the orchids— but my dear, right this moment our great-granddaughter is presiding over _your_ funeral." Garak replied, letting him go to look into his eyes. "I must say I'm a bit jealous, the Castellan herself went."

Julian just stared, dumbstruck. They were now cocooned by the strange light, which swirled and danced around them. It seemed in that moment nothing else existed outside of themselves. Unlike earlier, he found he could move now, but there was an inexpressible lightness to his body. He was dead? Well, it made as much sense as going mad, or anything else so far. He was well past any recorded Terran lifespan, and firmly in the upper half of "above average" for a Cardassian. However, the past year had been rough: he was in and out of the hospital for various age-related problems, until he finally put his foot down and asked to be discharged.

Perhaps time _had_ finally caught up to him.

It was at this moment Julian realized the finality of everything. He felt a deep welling of awareness, along with a sudden wave of knowledge, of understanding. Why things happened, what they led to. How things were, and how they could be. He saw the past, the present, and glimpsed the future his actions helped build, and he stood there in awe of everything for who knew how long— time no longer was. 

"What happens next?" Julian finally whispered after an immeasurable duration, his eyes wide, his voice shaking as he took it all in. 

"Anything and everything, or, in my case, nothing so far. I've been waiting for you. I refused to embark on so great and infinite an experience without you." 

"Well then," Julian grinned as he took Garak's hand, "shall we?" The light swirling around them grew and exploded, opening to reveal an infinite, indescribable vista, and they were suddenly soaring above it all, enveloped by the joy and love they found in each other. 

But it wasn't just Elim's love he felt. Julian could feel Miles, Keiko, Jadzia, Ezri, Nerys, Kelas, their children, everyone who had gone before— even Captain Sisko, wherever he was, and he knew in his heart that they would all meet again.

"It seems we are finally coming home" Julian whispered into his beloved's ear. Garak just smiled. 

\---

On Cardassia Prime, the Castellan symbolically broke ground for the new Elim and Julian Garak Memorial Institute.

**Author's Note:**

> Explanations on this particular Afterlife:  
The afterlife you get is shaped by your belief system (Heaven, Nirvana, Sto'Vo'Kor, Celestial Temple etc.) and since Julian and Garak are both either agnostic or atheist, they don't get a "traditional" afterlife.


End file.
